Lines in the Sand
by RaichuTec
Summary: The town hadn't seen rain for so many years... and then along came the prophesized priest and his cohorts.


Lines in the Sand

by

Raichutec  
  
It was another town, another pitstop, another brief moment of respite on the journey that carried them inexorably westwards. And Sanzo couldn't have been more pleased, and yet displeased, for Jeep to come to a stop and transform back into the miniature dragon form, indicating they could all stretch their legs again.  
  
And, no one had to listen to Gojyo and Goku arguing back and forth with each other in the back seat.  
  
Instead, Goku bound forward, mouth practically watering and arms flailing as he pointed to the various stands selling their wares on the streets. "Oh, Sanzo, that looks good and I'm starving!" To which the priest repeatedly said no, even through the youth's pitiful whining. Hakkai chuckled at them quietly, while secretly slipping Goku an apple from their supplies and Gojyo really got him squeaking as he reached over, snaked an arm around Goku's shoulders and proceeded to give him a good noogie. Following that, he stole the apple.  
  
"If you two don't shut up right now, Hakkai and I will be in the inn and you'll be sleeping on the streets, is that clear?" the priest barked. But, as always, the looks given to him were anything but reverent obedience. Gojyo just snorted. And Goku ignored it all together, leaping up and down to try snatching back the apple that the taller half-demon held just out of his reach. "You know, Hakkai," he said quietly, "Sometimes I wonder if I'm not speaking to a pair of brick walls."  
  
"You are," Hakkai agreed with his customary smile. He never looked back to see what Gojyo and Goku's antics were, but all the same, he knew. "But brick walls wouldn't make so much noise."  
  
"What are you two murmuring about up here?" Gojyo interjected. Goku had noticably quieted, munching on the apple finally returned to him and the half-demon had quickened his pace, now peering back and forth between Hakkai and Sanzo. "Nevermind. So, how long do we have before someone notices our badly behaved priest here and starts with the town worship?"  
  
"Shut up, Gojyo," was the most eloquent answer Sanzo could muster, patience already worn thin.  
  
But the half-demon couldn't quite help himself. Not when he saw an opportunity to cause a little mischief. "Someone's testy today. This has nothing to do with us getting into trouble in every other town, does it?"  
  
"Hey," Hakkai spoke up, just as Sanzo began reaching over to grab Gojyo's shirt and reel him in for a 'talk'. "Guys, did you notice just how dry it is here?"  
  
"Huh?" came the reply, in unison, from half-demon and priest. Sanzo's grip relaxed and Gojyo pried himself loose, but all four of them became aware of the arid feeling around them. The streets were more than just dirt, they were dusty, as if no rain had packed the soil down for quite some time and only the steady traffic of feet and vehicles or carts kept the dust at bay. Their shoes were covered with it, along with the cuffs of pants legs and the hem of Sanzo's robes. But there was more than just an arid dryness.   
  
"You know," Gojyo replied, "Now that you mention it, it is rather dry around here. Feels like something is trying to suck the moisture out of me. What do you make of it, monk?"  
  
"I don't know, and I don't care," said Sanzo, giving Gojyo a pointed look, "We're here till we refuel and resupply. Then we leave. No heroics. No adventures. Stick together. That means no wandering off. Period."  
  
No one seemed to notice the quartet moving through the streets. There was more enough activity in the streets for the villagers to be understandably preoccupied, oblivious with the din of conversations all around, a static backdrop along with the occasional peal of children's laughter. There wasn't another village or town around for miles and miles. So, strangers weren't entirely unusual. The inn they found toward the center of town. It didn't exactly stand out from the other limestone and clay brick buildings, except for the sign that rested above the porch, announcing that it was an inn with many different kanji.   
  
Inside was just as dusty, even with a young girl consistently going over the floorboards with her broom, trying so hard to keep the dirt out in the streets. A sisyphean task if ever the quartet saw one. To everyone's delight, the common room had a bar, and a lot of tables and apparently doubled as an eating establishment as well as the inn.   
  
"Might not have to go far," Gojyo idly remarked, though he fully intended to explore later.   
  
"If you get lost, we leave without you," Sanzo replied dryly.  
  
"Don't worry, if I get lost, I'll just have some lovely ladies show me home again."  
  
The man behind the counter was a pot bellied, middle aged, with a moustache, a friendly smile and squinty little eyes. Rosy cheeked, he sidled up to the edge of the bar to greet the arriving party with a cheerful hello. "Welcome to my humble establishment. How may I--"   
  
The abrupt pause left all four of them staring, and Sanzo knew with resigned dread that the Maten had been spotted.   
  
"Oh-- oh my, are you... are you a priest? Oh goodness. Please, accept my humble apologies for not realizing immediately." And so began the bowing and the scraping that Sanzo so loathed.   
  
"This isn't--" but he couldn't even finish the sentence. The flabbergasted inn keeper wasn't going to hear a word of it anyway, he knew that.   
  
"Please allow me to accommodate you at no expense for you and your um..." the voice trailed off as those small eyes seemed to grow a lot wider in the span of a few moments. "Oh. Oh my, oh my! You all are... green and and gold and red... so very red."  
  
It was Gojyo who spoke up first in the pregnant pause of silence afterwards. "Well, congratulations. You're not colorblind, old man. I'm outta here, guys." And with that, he turned and strode right back out of the inn, to the street.   
  
"I... I'm sorry, did I insult him?" the inn keeper asked, wringing his hands in dismay. Sanzo could feel the definite beginning of a headache coming on. And Hakkai's suggestion to Goku did not help the feeling.  
  
Leaning over, and smiling in his usual fashion, Hakkai murmur to Goku, "Why don't you help Sanzo pick out dinner for us tonight." Straightening, he gestured that he was following Gojyo. And then left the priest standing there with the inn keeper looking like he'd just swallowed a toad and the monkey boy bouncing up and down, announcing all the sorts of things that should be ordered for dinner without regard for the fact that Sanzo really just wanted to talk to the inn keeper without the added noise in the background.  
  
But wasn't it always like that? Everywhere they went, they always seemed to find trouble along the way.  
  
"Goku... shut up!"

The paper fan came down atop the boy's head and Sanzo's expression was dark enough to scare the inn keeper completely, for as he looked up again, he realized the man had crouched down to hide. 

"You can come up. It's ok. My... companion here is just a little hyper."

"And the priest is mean!" Goku added, still rubbing the back of his head before ducking away from Sanzo's hand again.

Slowly the inn keeper emerged again, watching the pair with wide eyes and a troubled expression. "I don't mean to cause you any grief, Your Holiness, but... we've been waiting so long for you to come here."

To that, Sanzo could barely suppress another groan. How many times had he heard this before? "I suppose you've had another Sanzo through here at one point in time..."

"N-no, sir. But, we have gone so long without rain, and the prophecy has told us for a very long time that a Sanzo would arrive one day, and he would bring with him the colors gold and green and red and when he did, the rain would come back to us."

Well, at least this time it was a slightly different story. "Oh? And just how am I supposed to bring the rain back?"

"Well, I don't know," the man answered with embarrassment staining his cheeks pink. "But, you will speak to the Town Council, yes?"

Sanzo sighed, vexed and tired and resigned. "After dinner. Provided they don't find us first."

And to that, Goku said it best. "Yay! It's about time we finally got something to eat!"

(To be continued...)


End file.
